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Live from the 2020 Grand World Voyage


Scrapnana
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2 hours ago, cunnorl said:

 The story about the gentleman who donated the yarn brought tears to my eyes! What a wonderful and thoughtful gesture. There really are some wonderful people in this world.

Really enjoying your blog!

Agree with all these comments.   First time reading these posts.   I particularly like having the questions and answers to the Trivia.

 

I have a friend who is having some medical issues and I know she would be happy to find out what shampoo might remove the yellow cast to her silver  hair.   Can you tell me the name of the shampoo and I will tell her.    Thanks.

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2 hours ago, mexico8 said:

Agree with all these comments.   First time reading these posts.   I particularly like having the questions and answers to the Trivia.

 

I have a friend who is having some medical issues and I know she would be happy to find out what shampoo might remove the yellow cast to her silver  hair.   Can you tell me the name of the shampoo and I will tell her.    Thanks.

Your friend should get a tone correcting shampoo or conditioner for blondes. The shampoo and conditioner will be purple in colour. Any store assistant should be able to assist her.

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20 minutes ago, Ottawa traveller said:

Your friend should get a tone correcting shampoo or conditioner for blondes. The shampoo and conditioner will be purple in colour. Any store assistant should be able to assist her.

Thank you neighbour (we live in Aylmer sector of Gatineau).  I will tell my friend.

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On 3/3/2020 at 7:46 AM, St Pete Cruiser said:

Have they mentioned how many guests are leaving in Auckland and how many are joining the ship?

 

I checked the HAL site to see if they are offering any segments of the remaining WC last week, and found none.  Today it shows a 48 day segment from Singapore to Ft Lauderdale without any of the revisions.  Oh well, that was the part I wanted to do and now it has been changed anyway.

 

Also heard that Orlando Ashford and Gerald Bernhoft have cancelled their plans to board Amsterdam.  With the coronavirus, I'm sure Seattle is working around the clock.

I haven't heard how many got on in Auckland.  We had a handful of new arrivals at our Meet and Greet this morning.

 

I heard the rumor that we would not be visited by Ashford which is kind of surprising since he has family on board but I guess everyone in Seattle must be running around like crazy!

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March 5, 2020

 

At Sea

 

We had our third Cruise Critic Meet and Greet this morning in the Crow’s Nest.  Although I had confirmed the date, there was no coffee, tea, or cookies.  We had a good turn out and met a handful of members who joined us is Auckland.  The latest scuttlebutt dealt with another change in itinerary.  A few people had heard we were not going to India or Sri Lanka from “reliable” sources.  Speculation on where we might go instead was a popular topic.

 

I had a few minutes at Sit and Stitch and we had another Judy (we are calling her Judy N.) join us.  She embarked in Auckland.  Judy (Lee), Judy (Margaret), and I took finished blankets down for Project Linus.  I also was able to share the wonderful story of the yarn donation.

 

Once again we were ‘bridesmaids’ in trivia with 9 out of 15.  The winners had 10.

1.Which actress wrote the autobiography, “Call Me Anna”?

2.What dental specialist performs root canals?

3.In Roman mythology, who killed Remus?

4.What peace activist was the MC at Woodstock?

5.In a controversial move, which was the first European country to ban smoking in bars?

6.Clinophobia is the fear of what?

 

When the captain made his daily update the “reliable” sources proved to be correct.  Sri Lanka has closed its ports to all cruise ships and India refused to give a blanket visa for the ship.  Instead we will be visiting more of western Australia.  (Most everyone onboard was pleased as was I.)  We have added four ports in Australia including an overnight in Freemantle.

 

I worked on my next Linus blanket and then went to lunch in the Lido.  We had met some rough seas and a whole stack of plates at the bread station went flying and broke.  We could also hear some things falling over in the kitchen.

 

We made paua shell earrings in Arts & Crafts.

 

In afternoon trivia we had 14 out of 18.  The winners had 16.

1.What is the stage name of Gordon Sumner?

2.What drink is Brazil’s biggest export?

3.What does “karaoke” mean?

4.In 1920, which Belgian city hosted the Olympics?

5.What bird is sacred in Peru?

 

After trivia, Marilyn and Rodney (who are from Perth) gave us some ideas of things to do while we are there.

 

When I returned to my cabin I was able to get online and stay online for over an hour!  I was able to upload the pictures for March 3 and 4 that I have not been able to do.

 

Tonight was a Gala Night and the Captain’s Dinner.  Instead of having weekly Captain’s Dinners with a few people, it was decided to have one night in the MDR for everyone.  The menu was not met with a lot of enthusiasm.  Everyone I spoke with didn’t like something about it.  Captain Mercer welcomed us in a short speech.  We had a gift of a painted ceramic box.

 

I did not go to the show which was a presentation of the singers and dancers which I had seen before.

 

Another sea day tomorrow.

 

We gain another hour tonight to be on Sydney time.

 

Morning trivia

1.Patty Duke

2.endodontist

3.Romulus

4.Wavy Gravy

5.Ireland

6.going to bed

 

Afternoon trivia

1.Sting

2.coffee

3.without an orchestra

4.Antwerp

5.condor

Smooth sailing until next time!

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8 hours ago, Scrapnana said:

heard the rumor that we would not be visited by Ashford which is kind of surprising since he has family on board but I guess everyone in Seattle must be running around like crazy!

 

Cruise line executives are set to meet with VP Pence on Saturday to discuss the Coronavirus.  I’m guessing that’s where he’ll be.

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Guest William Scheigert

Hi Kathi!

 

Loving the blog!

hope you are having a great time! Can’t wait to read your next post!

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March 6, 2020

 

At Sea

 

Rich (Judy [Lee]’s husband) and I wound yarn during Sit and Stitch and then I continued working on one of my four projects.  We decided to do a yarn crawl in Perth like the one Judy and Pete did in 2018.  We will visit four or five yarn stores.

 

In morning trivia we had 10 out of 15 and the winners had 13.

1.Born in Guelph, Lt. Col. John McCrae serving in the Canadian army in WWI, penned what poem?

2.In 2003, who became only the third Englishman ever to sign with Spain’s Real Madrid?

3.What is a “kissing gourami”?

4.Amsterdam’s official nickname is shared by several other cities.  What is it?

5.If you have Singultus, what do you suffer from?

 

After trivia I started project #5 which is a jacket made from some of the yarn I purchased in Auckland.  I also worked some on my current Linus blanket before lunch.  We made a kiwi greeting card in arts and crafts.

 

There has been lots of talk today about how the Captain’s Dinner was disappointing in one way or another – the food, the choices (or lack thereof), the time problems (some people who started at 5:15 did not get dessert until 7:30), etc.  I heard very few positive comments.

 

In afternoon trivia we had 11 out of 17 with the winners having 16.

1.Alphabetically, what animal always comes first?

2. Zanzibar is known for what spice?

3.Where did the rumba originate?

4.”Ghee” is what type of food?

5.What is the North American equivalent of a reindeer?

 

I left trivia as soon as we finished to go to the second cocktail party by my travel agency.  I sat and talked with my dinner partners, Kathy and Mike. 

 

Diana, from our trivia team, always invites friends onboard to a birthday dinner in the Canaletto.  Sherita and I sat together.  We had a quiz to get to know Diana better which was a lot of fun.  The meal was really good.  Sherita and I shared the shrimp and lobster ravioli and lasagna.

 

We finished at about 8:30 so I went back to my cabin to work on the blog before going to the 9:30 show.  It was a performance by Brett Cave.  It was billed as a blend of “Elton John and Billy Joel’s high energy”. 

 

Morning trivia

1.In Flanders Fields

2.David Beckham

3.fish

4.Venice of the North

5.hiccups

 

Afternoon trivia

1.aardvark

2.cloves

3.Cuba

4.clarified butter

5.caribou

 

First of two days in Sydney tomorrow.

 

Smooth sailing until next time!

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There is the Linus blankets project available here. A lot of us contribute to a local group called 'Beau's Blankets'. These go directly to the NICU unit of our 2 local hospitals- which includes the Univ of Florida Teaching Hospital and is run out of that facility. The other hospital here is also very large and right next to the Interstate, which makes them a convenient location for emergencies.

 

I crochet and it relaxes me and I would contribute to 'Linus' if not for our local group.

 

Edited by Happily@Sea
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Kathi, thought of you during a recent visit to an Alpaca farm. We could not believe the difference in the softness of products made from their amazing fleece.

 

Never would I have dreamed that we would have Alpaca farms in Florida.🦙

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On 2/16/2020 at 11:43 PM, Scrapnana said:

We actually made it to Easter Island

 

I've been following your WC and thought you might be interested in this:

Easter Island moai statue destroyed by truck

Lilit Marcus, CNN  Updated 6th March 2020
 
(CNN) — One of Easter Island's world-famous moai statues has been destroyed in an accident.
A Chilean island resident was arrested on March 1 after his truck -- a private vehicle, not a commercial one -- crashed into one of the stone figures and badly damaged both it and the ahu, or platform, it was perched on.
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March 7, 2020

 

Sydney, Australia

 

I woke up at 7 am but was too late to see the sail-in to Sydney.  It was very cloudy and had been raining (my window leaks slightly) so I probably didn’t miss a great view.  Since we were told immigration was going to be called starting at 8 am, I decided not to go back to sleep.

 

As it turned out, they were rather slow calling numbers (I was in group 10).  Likely, the people in HAL shore excursions were being processed before the numbers began to be called.  I used the time to work on my Linus blanket and check the weather forecast – there was a 30% or greater chance of rain all day so I decided to take my raincoat (of course, that guaranteed it was a beautiful day and the sun even came out). 

 

About 9:15 I went to deck 3 to stand out on the deck.  After being there a few minutes, I realized that I would not hear my number called because announcements are not allowed to be made on open decks while in Sydney.  I went inside and asked one of the people sitting in the atrium if any numbers had been called and sure enough, I had missed mine.

 

I left the ship and went through immigration which went very quickly although there were quite a few people in line.  We had a form and our passport, which were checked and then given back to us.  As we left the terminal, the guest services people collected them.

 

We are at White Bay Terminal because the large ships that cannot fit under the Harbour Bridge get to dock at Circular Quay (as we did on the Queen Elizabeth in 2014) but the smaller ships have to come out to White Bay.  As the crow flies it is close to downtown - we can see the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Tower from the ship.  The roads however are like a maze and it takes 20 minutes or more (with traffic) to get to Darling Harbour.

 

My first goal of the day was to find an ATM.  The one I used two years ago was no longer there but I eventually found another.  With cash in hand, I started off for Paddy’s Market in Chinatown.  Although this was my fourth visit to Sydney, I had never been to the market.  It was a very short walk from Darling Harbour even though I did not follow the route I had found last night on line.

 

Paddy’s Market lived up to what I had read about it.  In the stalls are just about everything you can think of – souvenirs, clothes, jewelry, wigs, food, toys, electronic accessories, shoes, and more!  On the first floor (what we would call the second in the US) there were some regular stores as well as a large Chinese food court (and at least 10 ATMs).  I got a delicious pastry and fresh lime juice drink and enjoyed the free wi-fi.  I walked around the ground floor stalls once more and purchased a few souvenirs.

 

I was headed for the Queen Victoria Building (QVB) when I saw a McDonald’s.  It was getting close to 1 pm by then so I thought I would have lunch and enjoy some more wi-fi.  Unfortunately, the “Maccas” account I set up in Auckland does not work in Australia and I did not have a valid postcode (my home zip code would not work).  At least the fries were good.

 

The QVB is beautiful and worth a walk through but I was not in the market for Bally, Prada, Kate Spade, or any of the other high-end brands sold there, so all I did was walk through.

 

Next stop was at Lincraft (like Michael’s or Hobby Lobby) but the store on York Street was closing and there wasn’t much of anything but fabric and sewing notions, so I did not stay long.

 

My final destination was Morris and Sons which has (don’t be too surprised) yarn!  I had planned on going there in 2014 and again in 2018 but did not make it either time so I was determined to go this year.  They had some beautiful yarn and finally I settled on some multi-colour yarn for a pattern Judy (Margaret) gave me. (When I got back to the ship I decided I need more than what I bought so I will go back tomorrow).

 

While I was in the store I got to talking to a lady and found out she and her husband had been on the Crystal Serenity but opted to leave the World Cruise and fly back to the US.  They were not happy with the itinerary changes (due to closed ports and staying away from Asia) and she made it sound like her husband wasn’t too fond of sea days and that influenced their decision.  They have a 17-hour flight to San Francisco tomorrow, where they will spend a few days and then fly back to the east coast.  (I have heard rumors that some people on our ship were contemplating leaving but I have not heard about anyone definitely doing it.)

 

I headed back to Darling Harbour and took the shuttle back to the ship.  I was back on board a few minutes before 4 pm – I had walked seven miles (that is a lot for me!) and was tired and thirsty so I drank a coke and worked on one of my projects until almost five when I went to sit on the back deck.  I was too tired to swim.

 

There was a trivia at 7 pm and you will be surprised to hear I didn’t go.  I was enjoying sitting with my feet up too much.

 

Sherita joined us for dinner tonight.  She had almost had to miss her overland tour to Uluru because of a paperwork snafu but just before dinner she got it straightened out.

 

There was no regular show and I really wanted to go to the movie, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” but I knew I would fall asleep before it was over at 11:15.

 

Another day wandering around Sydney tomorrow.

 

Smooth sailing until next time!

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22 hours ago, cat shepard said:

Kathi, thought of you during a recent visit to an Alpaca farm. We could not believe the difference in the softness of products made from their amazing fleece.

 

Never would I have dreamed that we would have Alpaca farms in Florida.🦙

Aren't they wonderfully soft.  I love knitting with alpaca.

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15 hours ago, HAL Sailer said:

 

I've been following your WC and thought you might be interested in this:

Easter Island moai statue destroyed by truck

Lilit Marcus, CNN  Updated 6th March 2020
 
(CNN) — One of Easter Island's world-famous moai statues has been destroyed in an accident.
A Chilean island resident was arrested on March 1 after his truck -- a private vehicle, not a commercial one -- crashed into one of the stone figures and badly damaged both it and the ahu, or platform, it was perched on.

Thanks for this.  Our news is so limited I had not heard about it.  The statues are so amazing it is a shame to lose one.

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March 8, 2020

 

Sydney, Australia

 

My original plan for today was to take the shuttle to Darling Harbour and then take the ferry to Circular Quay to visit The Rocks and then return on the ferry.  When I decided I needed to get more of the yarn that I purchased yesterday, all of that changed.  My new plan was to walk to the yarn store and then walk down George Street to Circular Quay and take the ferry back when I finished looking around.

 

I left the ship about 9:30 and arrived at the yarn store just after they opened at 10 am.  I then started walking to Circular Quay.  Along the way it started to drizzle so I finally got to use my raincoat which I had been lugging around.  It did not take much time at all to get to Circular Quay where I decided to have something to eat.  For the second time in two days I went into McDonald’s.  I had the pancakes which were very good.  I also asked the young man at the counter about being able to use the wi-fi since my zip code would not work as a postcode.  He said to use “2100” and it worked, so I was able to get through some e-mails while I ate.

 

Then I was off to The Rocks Market (which is held every Saturday and Sunday) to look at all stalls.  I always enjoy seeing all the interesting things for sell even when I don’t buy anything (like today).  When I was done, I went to the Alpaca Barn where I bought some yarn two years ago.  I found a nice alpaca/silk blend that I could not leave behind.

 

By that time the sun was out and it was a beautiful day and I wasn’t tired of walking so I dropped my plan to take the ferry and decided to walk back that way I had come.  On the way I found an ice cream store that had hokey pokey ice cream so I enjoyed a cone as I walked.  I walked around in the Westfield Centre before going back to Circular Quay.

 

Once back on board I went to the Lido to get something to eat.  There wasn’t much to choose from since it was after 2 pm so I decided to try some of the pizza which was not too good.  It was not hot and I had to pick off the pepperoni (they never have plain pizza at lunch time).

 

I spent some time working on my projects (finished one) until it was sail-away time.  I went up to “my deck”.  It was very windy and a bit cool but it had turned into a sunny afternoon and the sail-away was beautiful.  There were people doing the bridge climb that waved at us as we passed under the bridge.

 

I worked on my pictures until dinner.  I decided I would not go to the show since I was tired – I had walked more than seven miles again.

 

We gain an hour tonight.

 

Two sea days ahead.

 

Smooth sailing until next time!

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